Facebook recently launched a new tool called “Instant Articles”, which is a platform that delivers fast and rich news content to Facebook users from a plethora of news outlets. The Facebook tool was initially made available on iOS, and now it’s ready for its Android debut.
Facebook has mentioned that their goal of the tool is to deliver news content as fast as possible. The average time it takes for a web article to load is eight seconds, and Facebook is saying that Instant Articles should load ten times faster than web pages.
There are a few features that readers will get to experience when reading an Instant Article. Readers can zoom in and inspect high-resolution photos by tilting their phones. Other than that, videos will auto-play as the reader scrolls further down the article. Readers can also explore interactive maps and listen to audio captions to further understand the story.
Of course, the usual liking and commenting feature is included, with the added feature of liking and commenting on individual parts of an article. Participating news outlets will be in charge of the content, as well as selling ads within the articles.
Having more than 350 publications involved, Facebook aims to make its readers’ news feed their go to place to look for news. That being said, Android users should start seeing Instant Articles on their news feed soon. To learn more about Instant Articles and its participating news outlets, click here.
(Source: Facebook via TechnoBuffalo)
